Which power heads to use?

coreystang

coreystang

Member
I have a 50 gallon tank and was wondering what is a good brand of power heads to use. Is two enough? And what would be the best placement? This will be a fish only. Thanks for the help.
 
petem

petem

Member
I'm setting up a 72gal bowfront, and purchased a marineland powerhead. I dont remember the model number, but I think it was sufficient. The other thing I heard of, is that some powerheads have a small strainer basket, and they dont create enough flow???? Anyone else hear of this?
 
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thomas712

Guest
Maxi Jets are by far the best powerhead that many of us have used. For a 50 gal fish only tank I would go with two or three MJ 900's. They use much less power than the 1200's and still give you good gph output.
One in each back corner of the tank, pointed toward the front middle seems to work very well for most.
Thomas
 
007

007

Active Member

Originally posted by Thomas712
Maxi Jets are by far the best powerhead that many of us have used. For a 50 gal fish only tank I would go with two or three MJ 900's. They use much less power than the 1200's and still give you good gph output.
One in each back corner of the tank, pointed toward the front middle seems to work very well for most.
Thomas
Agreed . . . and for a FO tank you are not going to need as much circulation as a reef tank. For FO two should be fine. But for a reef, I would suggest three.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
Another vote for Maxi-Jets. Best powerheads IMO. I own two of the 900s and couldn't be happier.
 
coreystang

coreystang

Member
Sould I place them in the middle of the back af the tank or at the top. And aim one in the middle and the other down to the sand but not to stir it up to get movement so that algea won't build up?
 
007

007

Active Member
Actually, that is really up to you. You kinda have to play with it to figure it out. Personally, I have two powerheads in the top rear corners of the tank on the back glass. They are aimed at a 45 degree angle towards eachother. I dont have any dead spots in my tank as well as som higher current areas and some lower current area.
 
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daniel411

Guest

Originally posted by exotickeeper
If you're looking for another brand, the couple of Hagan 402's or 802's are excellent as well.
I like the Hagan's. Its all of the additional attachments including the suction guard that switched me over to maxi-jets. No more bio-balls on my power heads :D
 
cordell

cordell

Member
would two maxijet ph1200s be enough for a 75gallon? what's the deal with the "ph" added to the 1200?? is that normal?
I finally got my grant money in... time to set this baby up!!
But I'm gonna try to do it right the first time.. hence all the questions! I take everything that I read to here to make sure I read it right before I buy or do anything,, don't mean to irritate!
thanks
cordell
 
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thomas712

Guest

Originally posted by cordell
would two maxijet ph1200s be enough for a 75gallon? what's the deal with the "ph" added to the 1200?? is that normal?

Enough to do what to a 75 gallon? They would be enough to flow some water but are you going to have anyother filtration and water movment?
The ph most likley stands for power head :thinking:
Unless I know what other pumps you will be using its hard to say. Without any other pumps I would at least recommend 3 or 4 MJ900's instead. This will give you more widespread flow and less dead areas.
Think of it - 4 MJ 900's would not use as many watts as 2 MJ1200's and you would have more water flow.
Thomas
 
petem

petem

Member
So the reason for more than one PH is better water circulation? Is there a formula that determines how many per gallon? Or is it to everyone's own likes?
 
cordell

cordell

Member
ok that's cool.. I like the idea of alot of water circulation anyways. Sorry for being unclear on the question.. I plan to use them just to move around the water in the main tank.
I'm going to have some sort of sump, still unsure on it, and HOB overflow. In the sump I'll have protein skimmer (Looking at aquaC urchin), heater, and I'm not sure what else if anything as far as equipment goes in the sump. I was thinking about a mag12 for the return?
I'm going to get the 50lbs Fiji and the 25lb Florida live rock, from here of course, to start off. Maybe I'll add more later. For dsb, I'm still not sure on how much I need. I'm thinking 200lbs? I obviously can't afford that much live sand so I was thinking of using aragonite (can't find southdown down here, in the south, would regular clean playsand be ok for some of it?) and seed it with 40lb live keys sand.
So that's basically my filtration setup as I have it visioned now.
Nice thinking on the "ph".. I wonder about myself sometimes :hilarious:
Oh, how would I place say 4 of mj900s in the tank? Evenly spaced against the back glass on top or variate the height from one to another going down?
thanks
cordell
 
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thomas712

Guest
Cordell here is a breakdown on the watts per MJ power head.
Maxi Jets Wattage:
600 = 7.5 watts per hour
900 = 8.5 watts per hour
1200 = 20 watts per hour!!!
Model V/Hz Consumption
(in watts)
Maximum
Flow
Maximum
Pumping Ht.
Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price*
l/h g/h meters inches
MP400 120/60 5 400 106 .73 29 $27.90
MP600 120/60 7.5 600 160 1.35 53 $32.85
MP900 120/60 8.5 870 230 1.17 46 $38.40
MP1200 120/60 20 1110 295 1.74 69 $42.85
Sure there is a difference of 65 gph between the 1200 and 900 but its still a good flow and you save on the electricity in the long run. I always like to suggest one extra for emergancy's or for mixing new saltwater.
Thomas
 
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thomas712

Guest

Originally posted by PeteM
So the reason for more than one PH is better water circulation? Is there a formula that determines how many per gallon? Or is it to everyone's own likes?
Its really up to you and your system to determine if more are needed.
If you only have two power heads and you wind up with some cynobacteria that shows up in a dead spot or low flow area then you may want to adjust the two powerheads that you have or add an additional one for more flow.
Everyone should also keep this in mind. The more electric devices you have the more chance of stray voltage. When setting up a tank It is my feeling that a strong return pump and a spray bar can eliminate the use of more power heads and more electric devices. IMO the less equipment showing in the tank the better.
Thomas
 
cordell

cordell

Member
Could you explain more on the spray bar? I don't think I've ever seen one .. no surprise:thinking:
I have always disliked seeing so much equipment inside the tank.. I think it takes away from the natural looks and just looks tacky, but I have accepted it as it is needed mostly.
 
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thomas712

Guest

Originally posted by cordell
Could you explain more on the spray bar? I don't think I've ever seen one
No problem -
I had my tank drilled for an internal overflow, two holes one for drain and one for return both in the same overflow. The return is were I put a modular spraybar. I like the modular one because I can adjust any of the small linked nozzels and point them where I would like some more water current. Pain to work with but when you get it where yoiu want it its good to go.
You can make a spraybar out of pvc pipe if you like.
The pic is of the left side of my tank from the overflow.
 
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